


If At First

by piketrickfoot



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: (and then Get Together), Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, F/F, M/M, arthur is a laxbro, gwen and morgana just want their boys to Get It Together, merlin does science olympiad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-11
Updated: 2016-06-11
Packaged: 2018-07-14 09:14:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7165007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/piketrickfoot/pseuds/piketrickfoot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>K: It is not so simple, young warlock.<br/>K: You cannot fail him again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If At First

**Author's Note:**

> this is just a silly self-indulgent reincarnation high school au. featuring laxbro arthur, iphone app kilgharrah, and more.
> 
> btw i am american and im not even gonna pretend i know how the school system works there so this is like. american au also bc i Don't Wanna Fuck Up.

MOM: All ok?  
ME: yes just waiting for gaius to get me from airport  
MOM: OK let me know when he gets there love you! :)  
ME: will do love you too mom

Merlin closed out of the text-messaging app and swept a cursory glance around the crowded baggage claim. His mother had said Gaius would meet him here, but half an hour after his flight had landed there was still no sign of his mother’s dearest friend. Merlin sighed and settled down into the uncomfortable airport chair to stare at his new phone. His mother had bought it for him as a going-away present (and had refused to hear any of his protests about the money they didn’t have to spare on an iPhone), and he had yet to really look through all its features. Merlin managed to kill a good fifteen minutes clicking through each app in order, noting which he thought he might use and which he definitely would not. 

The last one he checked was tucked away on the last page of his home screen. Its picture was of a creature’s eye, lid green and scaly and iris flecked with gold, its pupil that of a cat. The label beneath proclaimed it as simply DESTINY. Merlin’s thumb hovered over it for several seconds before, gathering his wits and chiding himself on his silliness, he clicked it open. His screen flashed with an animation of a soaring dragon and then opened to a chat window. 

K: So finally we meet again, young warlock. 

Merlin stared at the chat client. “What the fuck?” he muttered, already typing out a response. 

M: do i know you ??  
K: Not now.  
K: In another time, however, we knew each other quite well.  
M: what  
K: That is a story for another day.  
M: …...ok  
M: why did you call me that?  
M: ‘young warlock’??  
K: Because that is what you are.  
K: You are so very young this time around. Perhaps you do not yet know.

Merlin’s brow furrowed, but before he could ask ‘K’ what he did not yet know, the app crashed. Twice more Merlin tried to reopen it, to demand answers, and twice more it forcefully closed before he could even click into the text box. He sighed and shoved his phone deep into his pocket to be dealt with another day. 

“Merlin! Merlin, where are you?” Merlin’s head snapped up at his name to search for the speaker. It only took a few moments to spot him, an elderly man in scrubs with white hair that just barely reached his chin. “Merlin!”

“I’m here,” Merlin called, standing up. The man- Gaius- met his eyes and waded into the crowd. For a moment Merlin lost sight of him as he picked up his suitcase, but when he turned to look again Gaius was standing behind him. Merlin jumped. 

“You’re Hunith’s son?” Gaius asked, peering up at him. All at once Merlin was struck with the realization that he was a good five inches taller than Gaius. Merlin nodded. “You’re tall,” Gaius said, looking Merlin up and down. Merlin grinned. 

“So I’ve been told,” he said. “Thank you for letting me stay with you.” Gaius waved him off with a flick of the hand. 

“Nonsense. You are your mother’s son,” Gaius said, and Merlin’s grin grew brighter. Gaius smiled back at him and grabbed the handle of Merlin’s suitcase, and together they walked through the doors and out to Gaius’ car. 

“I apologize for my lateness,” Gaius said as he drove, “the Knights’ lacrosse practice ran late, and as the only medical personnel on staff I cannot be away from the school while they’re practicing.” 

“I thought lacrosse was a spring sport?” 

“It is. Our boys like to get a jump on things.” 

“But the year hasn’t even started yet!” Gaius only shrugged, not taking his eyes off the road. 

For most of the duration of the ride Merlin asked questions. He asked Gaius about his job, about St. David, about the various departments and sports and clubs. After a certain point Merlin’s questions were not so much questions as they were incoherent babbling. To his credit, however, Gaius seemed to take Merlin’s nervous energy in stride, matching him question for answer and tangent for even lengthier tangent. 

Twenty-five minutes later, the campus of St. David Academy loomed in the distance. Its main building was huge and stone, and with all its towers and turrets it looked more like a castle than a school. Several smaller, more modern buildings sat nestled close by, and beyond the hill Merlin could see faculty housing as well as the various sprawling sports fields and complexes that had become St. David’s primary source of glory. 

Gaius passed the exit for Pendragon Hall entirely, leaving Merlin to wonder for a few short seconds exactly where he was being taken. He relaxed fairly quickly as he realized this winding road had to lead to faculty housing. Gaius parked in the driveway of an old, rickety house too tall for how thin it was. In Merlin’s opinion the damn place was barely standing up, but Gaius patted the walls fondly and referred to it as home, and who was Merlin to dispute that?

“Go on, get settled. Your room’s upstairs, first door on your left,” Gaius told Merlin, shuffling off into the kitchen, where seconds later Merlin heard the distinctive click of a kettle. The steps were as old as the house and they creaked when Merlin put his weight on them, so he treaded as lightly as he could and put much of his weight on the bannister. Merlin reached the second floor and pushed open the first door on the left. The room behind it was cozy, for lack of a better word. It was not spacious or even beautiful, but there was a fire in the hearth and clean sheets and a dresser for his clothes, and Merlin made a mental note to thank Gaius for the comforting simplicity of it all. 

Merlin didn't know when he’d fallen asleep, or even for that matter when he’d lain down on the bed, but he was awoken by the smell of tomato soup and the sound of Gaius calling dinner! up the steps. He plodded down the stairs, wincing at every abnormally loud creak, and gave his host a small wave. Gaius looked unimpressed with his apparently perpetual bedhead but set a bowl of soup on the table in front of him anyway. 

Just as Merlin was rinsing out his bowl in preparation for the dishwasher, a knock sounded at the door. Gaius furrowed his brow but crossed the hall to the door. Merlin got up to follow but hung back a few paces to watch as Gaius opened the door. 

Outside stood the most beautiful boy Merlin had ever seen. His hair shone gold in the sun and his eyes were the bluest Merlin had ever seen. Merlin could tell that he was, in the most technical terms possible, fucking jacked, and his shoulders heaved with every breath he took. 

Merlin, embarrassed over how intently he was staring at this boy he didn’t know at all, missed the first half of the conversation. He didn't tune back in until Gaius barked his name. He got the feeling it wasn't the first time he was being addressed. 

“Merlin, fetch my first aid kit from the bathroom cupboard. I’ll be there in just a minute,” he said, addressing this last to the other boy, who was beginning to remind Merlin a little bit of the sun. Sun Boy nodded and stepped away from the door, looking anxiously off at something down on the field. 

Merlin shook his head and scurried off to get the first aid kit for Gaius while he asked Sun Boy more questions about whatever it was that had happened. When he returned, Gaius grabbed the box from his hand and motioned for him to follow, and then he, Gaius, and Sun Boy raced down the hill. 

As they neared the lacrosse field, Merlin began to see seven figures; one crouched on the ground cradling its face, five huddled around it like fretting mother hens, and one sitting on the stone wall along the outside of the field watching them approach. This last hopped off the wall as the three of them grew nearer, and came to meet them on the dirt path that led down to the grass. 

“Morgana!” Sun Boy said, picking up his pace. Morgana eyed him as he barrelled down the path, stopping just short of running her over. She pushed her long, dark hair out of her eyes. “Is the kid alright?” 

“He’ll be fine. It’s good Gaius is here,” Morgana said thoughtfully. Her gaze flicked over to Merlin. “Who’s the boy?”

“I think he’s new. He was with Gaius when I knocked on the door.”

“A new student? Interesting.” 

Merlin wanted to barge into the conversation and demand they stop talking about him like he wasn’t right there, but it was around then that Gaius caught up with them. 

“What happened? Who is hurt?” Gaius asked, watching the commotion on the field. One of the (big, burly) mother hens looked up. Relief etched itself across his features when he saw Gaius, and he stood and raised a hand.

“Gaius? It’s the kid,” he said. Gaius brushed past Morgana and Sun Boy and jogged over to take a look. 

“What happened to you?” he asked the kid, who was still lying on the ground.

“Got hit,” he mumbled, almost unintelligibly. “Lacrosse ball.” Gaius’ face went hard. 

“Who did this?” Gaius stood up to look around at the other five boys and Morgana. “I want answers!”

Sun Boy stepped forward then. “It all happened so fast, sir. There’s really no way to say exactly who hit him. If you must punish someone, however, I am the captain, and I’m more than willing to take responsibility-”

“Percy was dicking around. Walloped that poor boy right in the head,” Morgana interjected with a grin. Sun Boy turned to look at her, equal parts incredulous and angry. Morgana did not stick her tongue out at him, but it was a near thing. Gaius nodded and grabbed the hurt boy by the arm. 

“Come on, there isn’t much I can do for you here.” The boy nodded numbly. 

Once Gaius was out of sight, Merlin spoke up. “Which of you is Percy?” Morgana pointed to a tall, burly boy with his hair cropped close to his head. Merlin immediately regretted this course of action, but once the tirade had started, it was near-impossible for him to stop. “You could have really hurt that boy.”

Sun Boy snorted. “Hey, it’s not Percy’s fault the kid wasn’t paying attention.”

Merlin’s eyes widened, and he turned to Morgana, who he perceived to be a sort of unofficial handler for the unruly team. “Sorry, I’m new. Is our lacrosse team any good?”

Morgana’s eyes narrowed. “Won state championships the past nine years in a row.”

“Really? Wow.” Merlin looked Sun Boy straight in the eyes. “All those trophies, you’d think they’d be able to aim.” 

Sun Boy’s eyes flashed, and Merlin grinned triumphantly. He looked like he was about to say something, but Merlin had already turned on his heel and started up the hill. 

“Gaius, who was that?” Merlin asked as he entered the house. 

“Who was who? Merlin, grab me that book.” Gaius pointed at a book on the table beside him, thick and dusty with age. 

“Sun- er,” Merlin faltered, feeling a little silly about his mental moniker for the boy, “the one who came to get you.” 

Gaius took off his reading glasses and peered at Merlin curiously. “That was Arthur Pendragon.” 

Merlin rolled the name around on his tongue. Arthur. It carried a certain weight with it, something he thought he should know but couldn’t quite place. Like his soul was a puzzle and Sun Boy’s name clicked another piece into place. Arthur Pendragon. 

He got the book from the shelf and handed it to Gaius. 

That night just as Merlin was falling asleep, his phone screen lit up with a notification from the DESTINY app. He scrambled to turn his brightness down as low as it could possibly go and then opened the app. 

K: Young warlock!

Merlin groaned, but grudgingly typed out a response. 

M: what??  
K: Today marked the beginning of your journey, Merlin.  
K: It should not be taken lightly.  
M: ????????  
K: You are one side of a coin. Today, finally, you have met your other half.  
M: other half?  
M: who?  
K: The closest thing to a prince that exists in this life, the young Pendragon.  
M: arthur???  
M: no. no way.  
M: if that asshole is my other half i’ll have him surgically removed.  
K: It is not so simple, young warlock.  
K: You cannot fail him again.

Merlin dropped the phone on his face. “Again?” he whispered. He picked his phone up, but all it showed him was the home screen. “Come on…” he muttered, trying the app again, but it just crashed again. He sighed and plugged it in beside his bed. 

Tomorrow, sophomore year would officially begin. Merlin had more important things to worry about.


End file.
